Hetalia911 Remember
by gymnalissa
Summary: Arthur is with Alfred when it happens... in a flashback!  The revised version; taking down the other one.


Hetalia~ 9/11~ Remember (starring Arthur and Alfred)

**A/N: be prepared for extreme OOC, 'kay? Also, this is my first fanfic-type-thingy, so please be nice to me when you tell me how sappy it is. I live off this stuff. ^^**

**Edit: I had to change this so it has England in place of you; I was a noob and didn't know you couldn't post self-inserts. My bad. *sweatdrop* I tried not to butcher England too badly, apologies in advance. **

*9-11-01*

Alfred questioningly looked around the streets of New York City as he was walking with Arthur by his side. "Did you hear that?" he asked.

"Hear what?"

"Oh, nothing…" he trailed off. They turned a corner and the World Trade Center came into view. "Wow," Arthur breathed.

"Like it, huh? This place is totally cool, isn't it?" he said, obvious pride in his voice.

"Yeah," Arthur told himself he just decided to stroke Alfred's ego, but if he had said anything else, he would have been blatantly lying.

They walked along in silence for a minute, but were interrupted by this awful roaring sound. Alfred froze, seeing an airplane flying way too low to the ground, and Arthur looked up just in time to see the plane crash into one of the Twin Towers. There was an explosion, and a huge fireball, and shards of shrapnel came raining down on you. "Arthur! Look out!" Alfred shouted, and shoved him onto a bench, covering him with his jacket.

After the ground stopped shaking, Arthur looked out from under the jacket. People were everywhere. Some were stock still, some looked plain shocked, and some were crying. He felt something in his lap, and it turned out to be Alfred, his face pained, and his cheek a little bloody.

"Alfred! Alfred! Are you all right? Alfred!" Arthur said, looking at him worriedly. Suddenly Alfred sat up, looking terrified. He sees all the damage to one of the places in his country he is most proud of, and he sucks in a fast breath, scrunching up his face.

"Hey… Alfred?" Arthur said in a comforting voice. It was a little awkward at this moment, because Alfred was taller than Arthur, and he had to look up to talk to him. Alfred looked mad, devastated, with tears in his eyes. He was so cute, Arthur almost wanted to treat him like a little kid again, but then he remembered the situation they were in. He could never think of the right thing to say at times like these, so he just pulled him into a hug and stayed that way until they heard...

BOOM! People started screaming "On purpose! They did it on purpose!" and run around in no particular direction.

Alfred looks up and sees that another plane hit the other tower. His too blue eyes fill up with fury and he stands up on the bench. He suddenly feels the scratch on his cheek and wipes the blood off, wincing a little. "Everybody! Please calm down! I'll get all the emergency vehicles here that I can!" He has to shout to be heard.

As the fire trucks eventually come pouring in, he turns toward Arthur and says "Wish me luck."

"What?" Arthur replied, almost trying not to understand what he was saying.

"I have to go in with them, Arthur. It's my country, and…" he paused a little; it was barely noticeable. "I'm the hero!" he said in his most obnoxious voice, but Arthur could tell he was just trying to cheer him up, and probably himself, too, because he was starting to tear up. "But let's be real," he said, his voice breaking, "Heroes don't let terrorists invade their country."

Arthur's thoughts started to head in a dirty direction, but then he saw Alfred turn a little, hang his head, and make a small choking sound. "Hey, hey, Al," he said, coming up beside him. "How could you have possibly known?"

Alfred couldn't bring himself to look at Arthur, but said nation could see tears dripping off his chin. "You couldn't have known," He said firmly, awkwardly turning Alfred's head to face his own. "So stop this and go help them." He wiped Alfred's eyes and nearly tried to kiss his head, but decided against it, blushing a little. "Go."

Alfred looked at him in the strangest way, then turned and left. Once Arthur saw him leave, something inside him snapped, and he started to cry. He tried to stop, but it didn't work, he only cried harder. "Just… be careful, Alfred. Please come back!" he choked out.

As Alfred was about to go into the tower, he turned and looked back at Arthur. _Wait… was he crying?_

Arthur looked up to see Alfred staring at him. He waved at him and tried to smile, fairly sure Alfred couldn't see his face clearly from this distance. He waved back, then followed the others into the tower.

Arthur waited anxiously for the better part of an hour for Alfred to come back. Then he saw some people come trickling out of the tower. Hurt, shocked, and dazed, they were all helping each other. He ran over to help them, momentarily forgetting about Alfred... until he saw him come shuffling out of the tower with a woman on his back.

He was covered in soot, with sweat drips making little streaks on his face. He looked exhausted, and maybe a little scared, too, but Arthur was just glad he was okay. After an EMT relieved him of his load, Arthur ran over to him as fast as he could. He hugged Alfred tightly and said "I was so scared, Alfred! That… that you…" he couldn't go any farther without crying, so he stropped and just hugged Alfred harder.

Alfred made a strange sounding sound, and Arthur said sheepishly "Oh, sorry, am I squishing you?"

"No, I... you, um… just cracked my back. Actually, it felt kind of good. My back is aching!" he sped up a little towards the end and stretched.

Arthur pretended not to notice that Alfred turned and wiped his eyes as he said "Oh! I give good massages; come over here and sit down." Arthur pulled him over to a bench and sat him on it. Then he walked around behind Alfred and started rubbing his shoulders and back.

Alfred sighed in contentment and closed his eyes. "You really are good at this," he said as he started to fall asleep.

_Poor Al_, Arthur thought, _he must really be exhausted!_ As Arthur kept massaging him, his next thought was _wow, how odd, how can he be this toned if all he eats_ _is hamburgers?...Wait, I noticed that? _ He suddenly blushed and stopped massaging Alfred.

"Hm? Wha'sup?" Alfred asked sleepily.

"N-nothing!" he said hastily, hoping Alfred wouldn't notice his stutter. Afterward he never really started masaging him again, he just awkwardly brushed off the soot on his arms and chest from when he hugged Alfred earlier. Luckily, Alfred was too tired to care.

Just then there was a horrible creaking sound behind them, and Arthur turned around and gasped. "Alfred! The towers!" He turns and stares, open-mouthed, as the towers collapse with a horrifying mix of banging, clashing, and creaking. Arthur heard people screaming around them. He covered his ears and shut his eyes against the awful sounds shaking his brain.

The ground stopped shaking; he eventually uncovered his ears and opened his eyes, and the first thing he saw was Alfred on his knees in front of the rubble, his whole body being wracked with silent sobs. His eyes widened. Alfred, the "hero" Alfred who had been so strong through the Revolutionary War, and who was always the interesting and funny bit to his days, was seemingly unashamedly crying his eyes out. Then he imagined himself in Alfred's place, and suddenly got this weird tightening feeling in his chest, and clenched his fists.

Arthur walked up to Alfred and put his hand on his back, then hugged him, nearly crying himself. Alfred was shaking, and Arthur held him tightly as he sobbed out "There were… people… so many… still… and they're…" rather incoherently in between gasps for breath.

"Shhhh, Alfred," he said as soothingly as he could, tears starting to slide down his face as well. "It's going to be…" the words caught in his throat. "Al…I'm so sorry!" he shouted, then buried his face in Alfred's soot-covered shirt. They ended up crying on each other's shoulders for a while, and then they just sat there, not saying anything.

Alfred suddenly looked embarrassed. "Sorry," he mumbled.

"For what?" Arthur asked.

"Um… everything… you having to see this… ruining your visit here, making you cry…" he got quieter and quieter as he went on.

"Alfred, I'm not sorry I am here right now. In fact, I'm… very glad to be here for you." he admitted softly.

Alfred leaned his head on Arthur's shoulder for a second. "Thank you, Artie," he said softly. Then they got up and walked off to help rescue the people who were trapped in the rubble of the Twin Towers.

*9-11-11*

As Arthur listens to the national anthem being played by one of the best bands in the country, he remembers that day ten years ago. He wonders what Alfred is doing right now, if he wants someone to talk to. He remembers how close they used to be back then; he hasn't seen Alfred in nearly a year, and he misses his smiling face. A lot. Arthur starts to tear up as the national anthem hits its climax. _That's what I get for being nostalgic,_ he thought.

As the song is on its last cord, the thought crashes into him_: we may never be able to be friends like that ever again, _and he can't help it; he starts to cry bitterly. "Al," he whispers Alfred's favorite nickname for himself. "I miss you!" Everyone is on their feet now in a solemn standing ovation, including Arthur, but he doesn't remember standing up.

Once the clapping dies down, someone gets up from the audience and walks toward the front. Arthur hadn't gotten a program, so he had no idea who it was… until he passes by and he sees a blurry number 50 on the back of the man's jacket. Arthur gasps and blinks his tears away to make sure he is seeing correctly. Alfred paused briefly, but then he kept on going and climbed onto the stage.

He turned around and addressed the audience. "I would like to thank everybody for coming here today to remember the people that were involved in that tragedy…" he paused for a second, and then shook his head and continued.

Arthur wasn't really listening to what he was saying, he just watches his face. As Alfred kept talking he looked more and more pained, and it seemed to take more effort to keep his tone of voice at his slightly annoying "I'm the hero!" tone.

Suddenly Arthur wants to rush up on the stage and hug him, and apparently he thought it so hard that he actually did it. Because In his next conscious moment he was on the stage, and Alfred was in his arms, sobbing, and he was crying "I missed you so much, Alfred!"

The host of the event didn't know what to think, so he hesitantly said "Um… you all can leave now…" and the audience started filing out the exits.

"Kesesesese! The awesome me is right again! You better thank me later, Alfred!"

"Shh! Prussia, leave them alone, aru!"

Austria was playing one of his most touching pieces on a piano that he somehow always has with him. It seemed to fit the mood.

Arthur and Alfred were holding each other out at arm's length and talking so fast the others could barely understand a word you were saying, but by their expressions one could easily tell they were elated to be talking to each other once again.

**I really don't know why I added that last part on there with the random countries that weren't even involved in the story; I guess it just wrote itself before I had time to think. ^^" But please tell me if you liked it! Edit: Sorry if I missed any changes, but I am so done with this thing! XP *dies***


End file.
